NORTHBRIDGE — Nearly 100 people packed Alternatives last week for the dedication of the Spaulding R. Aldrich Heritage Gallery to celebrate his contributions to the community.

Aldrich, who just turned 77, sat under a window with members of his family nearby. Occasionally he looked upward, conferring an engaging smile on a speaker. Dennis Rice, executive director of Alternatives, began the proceedings with a tribute to Aldrich and all he has meant to the community. Rice said he was honored to have the art gallery named after a role model and citizen like Aldrich.

The event was held Thursday, April 9, at the gallery inside the historic Whitin Mill, a restoration project completed by Alternatives one year ago.

Paul Buma, Douglas Carr, Barbara Gaudette, Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, and others also said some nice but true things about Aldrich, who has been a phenomenon on the local political and cultural scene for some 50 years.

He is adept at wit and has always carried his mantle of leadership with a light grasp, a self-deprecating style, and a natural eloquence. His accomplishments are legion, but he seems to have done everything almost offhandedly, the mark of a master who could charm a Town Meeting audience through humor but when the chips were down summon up a formidable strength from his New England roots.

His friends consider his a voice of perseverance clothed in moderation.

“Every wall and surface covered with notable works of art will contribute to the creation of a special environment for many years to come,” Buma said of the newly named gallery. “This is a great day for celebrating the significant contributions of Spaulding Aldrich and a proud moment to dedicate this gallery in his name.”

Buma is a longtime friend of Aldrich and served on the School Committee with him.

“For all of us who know Spaulding,” he continued, “we know he has a knack for combining brevity and elucidation… Over the years, he has been intimately involved in this service [of society] and the democratic process, and has strived to remind us of our heritage.”

Buma read off a couple of dozen ways Aldrich has benefited the area. They include service in the Air Force as a participant in the Korean War; Northbridge town administrator 10 years; Bicentennial Executive Committee; editor, Bicentennial Journal; co-chairman of the 225 Celebration; Northbridge Historical Society, of which he has been president for 10 years; Blackstone River Watershed Association Executive Committee five years; corporator of the Milford Regional Hospital, of Whitinsville Social Library, and of Whitin Community Center; member of the Northbridge Republican Committee 50 years, eight as chairman; SchoolCommittee 13 years,three as chairman; Planning & Zoning Board of Appeals member 12 years, six as chairman; Conservation Commission member five years, and vice-chairman of the Bylaw Review Committee.

Also, trustee of Soldiers Memorials five years; chairman of the Arthur Fletcher Whitin Fund; Blackstone Valley Heritage Homecoming Committee for 20 years, 10 as chairman; a field representative of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) three and a half years; director of programs under the federal Citizens Employment Training Act (CETA); involvement in his church, including several years as a teacher and deacon; Northbridge Scholarship Fund Committee; president of the Citizens for the Preservation of Northbridge over the past seven years.

He is also president of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission.

“Even now,” Buma said, “he remains active in many of these organizations, particularly in those that ensure remembrance of our roots and heritage as well as of the preservation of the uniqueness of our community.”

Buma observed that Aldrich has a clear understanding of the balance of rights and responsibilities and has always had a decided preference for civility of debate.

“He views citizenship as participation in the community and is concerned about how his life and actions impact other people,” he said. “He is willing to challenge what he thinks unjust. At times, ‘SRA’ could craft a sharpened witticism, then wield it like a knight’s sword, all the while behaving curiously civil in a British way, at times very much like William F. Buckley. He had a knack of quick humor for disarming those who disagreed with him. All of this was done without any personal disliking or animosity for those who might disagree with him. This is a quality we could all learn from.”

Buma said he has found Aldrich “very warm and kind “ both in private and in public. Buma recalled attending a School Committee meeting with Aldrich many years ago “when our commitment to Special Education and to the needs of special students was just beginning to be recognized.”

After hearing a presentation that threw down “an almost overwhelming challenge,” Buma said, Aldrich “simply said: ‘We must do this, and we’re really going to have to fight for the money.’”

“Spaulding was ahead of his time in his desire to fight for those students,” Buma declared. “So it’s appropriate this gallery is housed here — where services are provided to citizens with disabilities.”

“All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing,” Buma quoted 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke. “The inverse of that is what Spaulding’s life is about,” said Buma. “All that is needed for the triumph of good is for good people to fight the good fight.”

Carr provided warm memories and astutely penetrating observations about his friend, whom he said he lately discovered he is related to via a marriage between the families around 1850. Carr, a true New Englander like Aldrich, said what the two felt for each other was like love, “but of course Spaulding and I, as two old Yankees, wouldn’t say that.”

“I can’t imagine anyone else who has given so much to the Blackstone Valley as Spaulding,” said longtime Planning Board member Barbara Gaudette. “We need to preserve the beautiful things of the Blackstone Valley… Spaulding has done that for so many years, we need to follow him.”

Aldrich thanked everyone for coming to the event. He noted April 9 was his granddaughter Natalie Grondin’s 18th birthday. Rev. Robert Sherwood, pastor of the Village Congregational Church, delayed the church’s Maundy Thursday worship service to be able to attend the recognition. Aldrich continued thanking everyone, including his family. “I could never imagine being honored in such a grand manner as this.”